September Insurrections
German government *OHL|side2 = Spartacists|leaders1 = * Wilhelm II * Erich Ludendorff * Paul von Hindenburg|leaders2 = *Rosa Luxemburg *Karl Liebknecht|participants1 = * Loyal garrison units * OHL * Police|participants2 = *Spartakusgruppe|image = novemberinsurrections.jpg|name = September Insurrections}}The September Insurrections (German: Septemberunruhen) were a group of civil conflicts in the German Empire during the Weltkrieg that directly led to the signing of the Enabling Act. The insurrectionists failed to achieve their goals and the revolt was suppressed after several days. Important notice: This page contains lore relevant to the upcoming Germany rework, and it may not reflect the current in-game setup that well. The ultimate goal, to eventually fully transpose the changes made to the lore in-game, still stands. This lore also may not be final, and some minor changes may occur. Background The roots of the attempt at revolution lay in the strains placed on the population of the German Empire throughout the Weltkrieg, and the social tensions that became obvious alongside them. Even though the German Social Democrats agreed to the so-called Burgfrieden in 1914, the German government increasingly started to crack down on activities such as strikes and peaceful opposition in the course of the war. Social injustice prevailed even among soldiers, with a deepening gap between enlisted and officers, while perceived anachronisms such as the three-class-franchise Prussian voting system remained. Attempt at Revolution The Strike The USPD decided that the right time has come to overthrow the government and prepared for a peaceful revolution. Its supporters are workers, students and radical intellectuals. They engage in massive nationwide anti-war demonstrations and strikes against the government lasting from late August to early September 1918. The OHL and the chancellor are concerned by the movements and decide to enact a curfew. Despite these actions, demonstrations still took place with more and more people attending. The OHL tried to break the strikes, by arresting various radical socialist leaders, to no avail On the morning of September 1st, groups of mutineers moved through the town, convincing most of the local garrison to join them. Artelt organised the first soldiers' council on German ground, which was soon followed by several more. The imprisoned sailors were freed and the local telegram station occupied, but not before word of the mutiny had gotten to the alarmed OHL at Spa. By the evening, the city was in the hand of thousands of rebellious sailors, soldiers and workers, but several brigades of front-line reserve units were already on their way by train while the revolt remained limited to the city proper, with the suburbs and surrounding villages remaining in the hands of the police. Spread & Disruption On 9th September, Spartacists engaged in combat and took over various government buildings including the Stadtschloss in Berlin and the Munich Residenz. The USPD leadership was angered by the escalation the Spartakusgruppe caused and decided to end its participation calling for an end of the violence. Ludendorff, backed by the Kaiser, the chancellor and Reichstag issued an ultimatum to the occupiers to leave the buildings and return to work. Unwilling to do so the Spartacists issued an ultimatum to the Kaiser demanding the release of political prisoners and to immediately abolish the monarchy in favour of a Socialist Republic. Ludendorff didn’t want to wait for the Kaiser to answer and commanded the police and the army to move in and restore order. The spartacists didn't stand a chance in the ensuring firefights and folded on 11th September 1918. Aftermath The remaining members of the Spartakusgruppe as well as some disgruntled USPD members formed the DOI (Deutsche Organisation der Internationale), an underground organisation in the aftermath. The majority of the USPD members realized that their revolutionary movement stands no chance against the government, which made them re-approach the MSPD. Both parties started negotiating about a potential reunification. After two weeks of stiff negotiations the leaders of the MSPD and the USPD Friedrich Ebert and Hugo Haase, announced that the USPD would rejoin the MSPD once more. The reunified SPD was once again the largest party in the Empire and after it regained its more radical left wing was open to finally end the Burgfriedenspolitik. This didn’t sit well with reformist members of the SPD and their allies, the FVP and the Zentrum. The new chairmans of the reunified SPD became: Friedrich Ebert, Arthur Crispien, and Hermann Müller. In the following month the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz) was passed by a majority in the Reichstag, granting the Reichskanzler the ability to pass laws without the agreement of the Reichstag. The law was used for the first time on the same day by Chancellor von Hertling, on the behalf of general Ludendorff to ban all socialist parties (excluding the SPD) on the 14th of October. The passing of the Enabling Act, the constant attacks by the right wing parties, the ban of socialist parties as well as the government's continued effort to issue war bonds finally led the SPD to the decision to officially end the Burgfriedenspolitik. The uneasy relationship between the reformist and the radical SPD members eases a lot afterwards . The deputies that formerly represented the USPD are pleased by the move. While the NLP, DRP and DkP immediately start to attack the SPD and discredit them as traitors to the fatherland, both FVP and Zentrum remain silent. DVLP members called for the SPD leadership to be put on trial for betraying the fatherland.Category:Germany Category:History